longggg awaited....

MERRY CHRISTMAS

(more to come :) this is JUST A SNEAK peak....many more)

sweet potatoes...

i love them, what can i say? what more needs to be said. i ate them 3 times this week, but you could probably count that as 4 because of how MANY i ate today. delicious, nutritious, full of vitamin A.....you can boil them, mash them, make them in a casserole or pie!!!

 

heaven better have sweet potatoes!!!!!!!!!!! yeah!

life is tiring and trying and just plain hard....every one and and every thing needs something from us. life is constantly an output of energy and emotions and thought and communication. every one of us goes somewhere to recover....somewhere to get refilled....sowhere to get, so that you can give:

friends, food, gym, a happy place in your mind, hobbies, reading, movies, money, pleasure- everyone does it. sometimes its just doing what you are "supposed to do"- pick up your Bible flip it open...."please give me something here God, anything." then we wonder why that habit never sticks. 

i wonder why i just can't make it, just can't handle it, don't have enough energy....

the Lord has been really teaching me that He is my "Bread for life" (or in my case, my sweet potato) at first i thought, well great, ok God teach me how to know that...then I'll be on my way. But making the Lord your bread is not about "making the bread." 

It's receiving it.....its receiving love. See if I have truly received God's love...I have every bit of nourishment I need for life. No longer am I working, striving, perfecting....no longer am I fixing myself. I am loved. I can set my heart at rest in His presence. I can be OK in that resting. No longer am I looking for acceptance through what I do, but who I am....God's Beloved. My heart is stripped of all the motivations and desires, and I live for one thing alone....to honor Him, not out of obligation but because I know He loves me so much. How exciting.

Romans 8 talks about setting your minds on things above, and that this results in a life full of life and peace. 

I'm trying to change my perspective. I'm trying to take away all those things things I go to for bread that do not fill me....even good the good things, and realize that it all has to be about one thing.....giving that which i fully receive....love. a heart that knows about the love of God can receive the love of God, a heart that receives the love of God is FULL of life and peace, and a heart that is full of love is a heart that can give love away.

greatest commandment from God "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength; and love your neighbor as yourself."

"One thing I ASK of the Lord that I would SEEK, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life."

Oh God, i am broken. I can't even worship and receive your love without your help. i push you away....pure love- love without motivation or condition. i run to you and say....i receive your love. i need it. i'll die without it. its the place i find what i am always always looking for in life. i don't deserve it. i can't do anything for it. but i want it, and i want to be close to you God....not for what you can give me but because of who you are. would you change me by your love.

2nd thing i ask.....that there are sweet potatoes in heaven

happy thanksgiving...more pictures

i would like to introduce you to.....CALVIN!  my husband's latest surprise :) he's about the only person in the world that can fool me (ie getting engaged, surprise me in Mexico). i thought he was working late in order to be more "off" this weekend....when really he had met a family about an hour away to pick up our new puppy. the names were already narrowed down by myself to: wordsworth,  whitman, milton, herman, or calvin......david said he just looked like a calvin....

calvin is 10 weeks old, and he is a Pembroke welsh corgi!!

the heavens declare the glory of God

new mexico

I appreciate the way

al the trees' fingertips

reach the same

way- the same

direction

toward the light

toward their food each day

on steep sides of mountain

peaks each of them

the same each of them

reach

creation

all of it blesses Your name

drinks all that You give

the mercy for each day

You, O Lord, are the light in my eyes

if there is any joy in me its You

if there is any peace within

its because i too have reached my fingers

to the sky

exposing every part of me to the light

its because i have taken you in as 

nourishment for my soul

and released all that i am as 

worship

to Your name

All of creation

the heartbeat of the world

is pointing

panting 

for salvation

for now

there is for every day

a night

for every light

a darkness

for every up

a down

for every life

a death has happened

for every push a reaction

i am in need

but

through You

i have reason

i hope

each day

for 

You

Father of lights

so sorry for all my picture blogs....

Ok, friends, I'm so sorry that I have been doing more picture blogs then real blogs.....

get over it 

hahahah more words to come!

Until then, 

Here are pictures from my parents first visit to Texas!!! These pictures were taken in the canyon that is near our house. 

Love you all!!!!

kate :)

u envy, I envy

i've let myself go a little bit..

after couples get married...statistically they let themselves go a bit...

friends, this is what you have to look forward to in marriage :)

a not so spiritual blog....

So I'm sitting her on a Sunday afternoon, belly full of sweet potatoes, watching Lord of the Rings with my husband, Anna, and Daniel....a pretty good Sunday afternoon.

Here are some things you should check out....

www.northwebsite.com (basically what I am up to)

AND 

www.danielandanna.net   Congrats Anna and Daniel!!!

(i will be getting a new brother in January...which is pretty cool)

So, I had my first subbing job this week. I loved it! I subbed in a Special Education room, and it was such a great day! :) I really would do it without pay, just to hang out with those kids every day. I had good times this week hanging out with friends and family. I practiced cooking some...my fish tacos (not so good), buckeyes and pumpkin pie..(success). :) I really am starting to enjoy it!!  AND, the Buckeyes lost. :( BOO....they really just sucked! oh well!

There were so many wonderful things about this week! One thing that the Lord is teaching my heart that for some reason I tend to forget is that as a child of my Father life on this earth is a battle. Sometimes we forget about the battle of good/evil - light/dark. Life will be so good, and then it blind-sides us. Other times, we focus on it so much that we walk around heavy, scared, and discouraged that nothing in this life is easy. I believe both are wrong lenses to look at the world through. The Lord has been teaching me to acknowledge the battle, pray for our ministry, pray for my husband and family, and pray for our friends; but to ultimately give HIM the responsibility of handling everything. AND, when I say give Him the responsibility....ALL of it. The Lord has been asking me to love and TRUST Him as a little child- child-like faith.

 It is only through my eyes as His child (faithful, trusting, loving Him completely) that this world and this life is fun, full of joy and peace.

OK- SO I guess that is sort of spiritual......unlike the title of this blog! :)

On a completely different note:

To those in Ohio(and places other than Texas)that I love so very much- friends and family,

There is something I want to say to you all. I am not sure how to say it the right way, so I am going to say it out-right. I love you all so much. I miss you all so much it hurts. I know I am not as easy to access. I am not as easy to talk to. I am not even good a returning phone calls, emails...whatever. 

That doesn't mean that I love you all any less than I did when I lived near you. I am just adjusting to my new marriage, environment, ministry, and work. Please continue to write and call; each time I hear from you it blesses me to know you are thinking of me at that moment. Life will eventually calm down. Thank you for your love and so often your encouragement. It is good to hear from you. I love you all!!! :) :) :)

Today I got some new running shoes and a running watch from my wonderful husband. I pretty pumped to try them out! HIGH FIVE!

bye :)

Tex

This is "Tex"

Tex lives about a block from me overlooking the highway and watching over my house. 

They are thinking about tearing him down, but I sure hope they don't. Tex used to be a model the world's largest pair of jeans. (yes, he wore an actual pair of jeans!) Now he's just kinda hanging out, watching me jog past him every day.

Wednesday, September 3

I wrote this Wednesday, but I haven't been to the internet :)

Here it is!

Last night, I had the most wonderful dreams. 

Actually, I'm not even sure if it was dreams or a dream or what exactly it was... all I know it was perfect- wonderful.

I know I met God there.

I didn't like meet Him and shake His hand or anything;

but He was there.

 

I am so incredibly visual.

I am not balanced at all.

You know how some people hear things and can remember them or do things and can do them forever? Most people are a good mix of everything as far as learning and relating to the world. I am pretty strictly visual. I have to read something to understand it...see things to comprehend them. It can, at times, be frustrating.

I am just not a good balance.

 

Here's the cool thing though; I literally see the world. Moment by Moment.

I am so glad the Lord made me this way. As frustrating as it can be, it is special to me. I am glad the Lord made me exactly the way I am.

 

Words and sounds and emotions create images in my mind.

 

I will never be a musical person, but I can see music. I can’t describe it to you, but it’s an image or maybe a movement.

 

Last night, all night, I heard worship to God in my dreams. Last night, I spent all night worshipping.

I spent all night in the movement of the sound of worship.

 

When I woke up this morning these words repeated in my ears and stirred this image of worship in my mind…

 

As the sun peels back petals,

Every time I hear Your name

I dance.

 

That is what worship sounds like - looks like- to me.

 

I woke up with such a sense of peace. I knew I had spent the night in the Presence of my God.

 

See, yesterday, was a hard day. Every emotion I felt, every word that I spoke, only looked like darkness to me. It was all I could see. I felt like I was looking but not seeing…numb…

God, where are you?

 

But then I went to sleep, and He was there. I felt Him. I saw Him. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people.

 

Praise was in my dreams, and He was there.

 

The wonderful thing about it is, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I was asleep. In fact, I had lived in darkness that entire day if I had done anything at all.

 

When God meets me, when I see Him……

it isn’t because I deserve it.

It isn’t because I made myself a better person that day.

It isn’t because I am anything at all.

 

It is because He loves me. His love isn’t based on what I do or don’t do. His love isn’t based on my performance at all.

His love is love.

God’s love is real love.

God is love.

It’s not dependent on me at all.

I just bring Him joy.

 

It’s kind of hard to understand, but that’s only because there is nothing else like it.

 

He doesn’t just save you; He blesses you; He heals you- over, and over and abundantly. (Romans 8)

 

Last night (before the dream), I saw Phil Wickham in concert at North. (CHECK HIM OUT!!!!!)

He wrote the following lyrics…

 

“For you

I sing,

I dance.

I rejoice in this divine romance.”

 

That’s a picture of what HIS love looks like FOR me…for YOU.

 

As the sun peels back petals

Every time I hear Your Name

I dance

For Your love

I dance

With breath that dances

And leaks off the lips

When You

Are

Praised.

 

 

the deadly desert

I have described life for me in recent times to be a desert. Last night at North, we sang an amazing song about God's love. I couldn't help but feel the Presence of the Lord, but I also couldn't shake the feeling in my heart that the EXTENT and very meaning of God's love is veiled from my heart. I was touched by the song. I could feel God's love at that moment. YET, a little something inside of me told me I really just don't understand God's love.
It felt really great to know I was loved so dearly by God, but something inside of me cried out to God for more. Something inside of me (my spirit....the real person that I am) Begged God to tear apart what keeps me from that knowledge.
God deliver me; that I might know.

And really I do know what keeps me from His love, my old fling- Fear.

He said to me, so very clearly, another layer has to go.

Today, I had a moment to talk to God. I picked up a book my dear friend Meg had let me borrow and read the first line of the dedication.
It is as follows:

"To walk with God in the high places we must lose our fear. Fear can only be lost in the desert, in the crucible of warfare, inferiority and internal struggle. In that place where only God can shelter you. Only His comfort works. All is stripped bare and we come to rest in His goodness."

I can read no more today.




"Living in Dependency and Wonder: The Journey of Discovering the Depths of God's Love For You" by Graham Cooke

real ity check

Been thinkin'....what is reality? What makes something real?

Because, what is very real to me...might not be the same for you.

I can't get real deep on this....I mean, I haven't had a college class that asked these types of questions in a couple years. Its just something I'm thinking about.

Be careful what you think about. What you think about is really who you are and probably what you either currently believe or will begin believing. Even the Bible, yes the Good Book, talks a lot about the mind.

I guess because of gravity or for some reason, whatever I spend time thinking about eventually leaks down from my mind and settles in my heart. Let me tell you, just because you are thinking about something doesn't mean its real or even from God. You can help what you think about....its tough, but it just might change your reality.

"Set your heart on things above..."
"Set your heart at rest in His Presence..."
"Seek peace, and pursue it...."
(I guess I like "s" scriptures today)

It all begins with what you think about, OR what you ALLOW yourself to think about.

"My heart is glad in Him because I trust in His Holy Name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You." Psalm 33

pictures from mexico...scroll down for story!

ok, obviously david added the title :)

Casa Por Jesus?

 

By Lady Katherine (of the Sexy-faces) Ritchie

 

 

 

Oh the glories of blogging!! How much I love you….ok, not really. What makes blogging hard is figuring out what wonders to write. A lot happens between blogs, and I think that life is interesting. At least I find my life interesting, and the wonderful thing about this is if YOU didn’t find it that way as well; you wouldn’t be reading it. Ok, so I’m just being ornery. I really am finding it hard to decide….

Since I wrote my last blog, I have once again taken a trip to Mexico. This was by no means another honeymoon, in fact; my honey woke up the morning of the trip throwing up the honey-baked chicken the night before!! SO….we threw up a few quick prayers for direction and realized that it would just be impossible for him to go. This trip to Mexico was HARD WORK in the HOT sun and included a 10 hour van ride across the border!

I tried to play it pretty tough, and if I am honest with myself my question, “Honey, do I need to stay home and take care of you?” was about 80% concern and 20% fear of going alone. David didn’t even falter. He knew I had been excited about this trip for basically forever, and he knew that this was an important time for our ministry. If you have ever been on a mission trip, you will certainly understand the amazing relationship and growth you make with the people you go with. This trip was really important for us and for North….we were both just so bummed out- we had spent so much time thinking, talking, and praying about this whole thing. Grrr

Soooooo….Next thing I knew I was standing in our garage, car loaded, praying: “Oh dear God…Oh God help me.” I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to go far away from my husband for quite some time…(our dating process)…and I really only felt like I knew one other person going…I told myself the whole way to Amarillo that 1 out of 40 was better than 0!! J

Our trip was split into 2 teams: my friend and her husband leading 1 and myself and one of the children’s pastors leading another. Each team built one 3 room casa for a family in Mexico. (Please check out the organization Casas for Christo)  Our team of 17 built a house in Juarez (I know not the safest location on the map….there have been hundreds of murders there this year because of some gang stuff….a few people, including a pastor were murdered there while we were in town!). The site was a trash dump, literally. The family had 5 children, 1 mom, and two grandparents. Their house had burnt down, and they had been on the waiting list for 9 months at Casas. I found out pretty quickly why ponies have tails…I wore my hair in a ponytail every day so I could swish the flies out of my mouth- they were EVERYWHERE.

Juarez is 1 mile from the United States. We drove 10 hours in a van from the panhandle of Texas to the border of the US, and from El Paso you can literally see into Juarez from the 2^nd story of the hotel we stayed in there. Please, this is NOT a guilt trip, this IS reality….just beyond our borders.

Anyways, we built our house from the ground up…mixed our own cement and everything. It was an amazing experience. There were kids everywhere…especially around our lunchtime. Our family was so sweet. They wept when we got there and wept when we left. I so much enjoyed getting to know this precious family. Even during the hottest afternoons, they stood out in the sun with us and watched us work. My team members were some of the most incredible people I have ever met. I made many dear friends. One of the dearest friends I made and one of the most amazing people I have ever met was a girl who is going to college in Amarillo and was adopted into the US from Russia at 15. Her story of coming to know our God in such a real way made my cry for the hours (I mean hours) we shared in the van to and from Mexico. She really lives out the verse, “in Him (Jesus) there is FULLNESS of JOY.” She was just ONE of 17 awesome people I got to know.

We had a lot of trials building our house. We finished 9 hours behind our schedule and the other team. Our final day was 15 hours of hard, exhausting work. Not one of those team members got discouraged. We prayed over that house as we built it, with every nail we drove we asked God to use it for HIS glory.  I believe He will. I believe that the more that we came up against building that darn thing, the more that evil in this world must not want such a place to exist. At the end of the final day, we tearfully dedicated that house and that family to the Lord. BOY, that was hard, and it was hard saying goodbye to the family and all the little kids we loved so much.

When we got back into our van to head back to El Paso for the night, the weariness finally hit me. I was so tired all I wanted to do was see my husband and maybe just cry, just because. I couldn’t help but feel accomplished and proud of our team. I couldn’t help but feel so grateful for new friendships and stories of how good God is! Most importantly, I couldn’t help but feel the Presence of God.

I have kind of gone through a time in my life- a little like a desert. The Lord brought me right up to the edge of that desert place and said…Kate, you walk right to the other side of it…I am going to walk with you. I felt like every single cactus and rock I passed was telling me I must be lost or walking the wrong way…even worse that I was walking all alone. Sometimes it made me look right at God and say, I know you told me to walk through this, but why does it have to be so hard and quiet out here. Sometime I even told Him to just go away, or I’d just say that the desert was just too hot to talk to Him. Ok, enough of the crazy metaphor….Somewhere in Mexico, at sometime building this house, I decided to stop worrying about how hot it was or how many flies were on my face or how sad it was that this family’s house burnt down…and just talk to God. Oddly enough I was afraid He wouldn’t talk back that He really had left me out in the desert to face the heat alone, but He hadn’t, and He talked back…and I had missed the sound of His voice so very much. I just love being in His Presence.

Back to the van ride out of Mexico to El Paso, Texas….and the crying just because I was tired. Around midnight (we were stuck in border traffic from 10-12) I FINALLY got my US cell phone service back!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!! So I called my sick husband to find him no longer sick and very worried about why in the world we were 11 hours late! OOPS! Of course he wanted to know why, and I wanted to know the answers to questions like….”While I was gone, did your heart forget that you loved me?” I know, I am a total girl. My phone was dying and the border patrol asked me to terminate all cell phone conversation……so I was left sad, exhausted, and missing him something awful.

I was the VERY LAST person out of the vans at the hotel in El Paso. I just stood there just like I did in my garage a few days earlier saying, “Oh God, dear God, how the stink am I going to carry my bag. I am just too tired.” At that moment, I turned around and there was a very sexy man running towards me…..and he gave me a big hug and he smelled really good and he had flown from Amarillo to meet me when  I came across the border! J J J I cried all over again. He even carried my bags for me!! J J

            Marriage and David’s love has taught me so much about the way that the Lord loves me. That God never leaves me alone to walk through the desert by myself. That God never forgets in His heart how much He loves me. That He never decides one day He doesn’t want to speak to me anymore. How amazing, How much God loves each person. How personally and intimately He cares for us all. How He longs for our hearts, our friendship. How excited He is when we finally realize that about Him. When we finally stop running from Him. When we finally find ourselves in Him. You know, I was pretty tired when we rolled into that hotel….but it all went away when David showed up….

We spent almost all night talking, laughing until it hurt, and crying about what the Lord. It was the most fun I had in….maybe forever.

 

 

The end.

mexico

Hey Everyone!!

Is anyone in this world as incredibly excited about the olympics as me?!?! I DON'T THINK SO!!

There is no one!

I weep and stand with my hand pressed to my heart as we win another gold metal and play our wonderful national anthem!

OK, maybe not, but I love it!!

:) :) yay! :) :) 

Good thing for tivo....because, I will be in Jaurez, Mexico this week building a house with North!!! I found out a little info on the families at the final meeting last Tuesday. We will be building 2 houses for 2 families. The families have 5 kids and 6 kids respectively. Each family brings home a whopping $700.00 per month, and one of the families had a massive house fire recently in which they lost everything. 

SOOOOO.....I'm excited to see what the Lord is going to do. I know we definitely be coming home with 2 houses completed, but I more importantly I know that the Lord has more to do...in those families, in our group, and in my heart. Please pray for us!!!

I will definitely write about the experience. :) If you will be watching the olympics, specifically men's and women's gymnastics .....DO NOT COMMENT WITH INFORMATION! I will NOT be your friend anymore! :) :)

Ok, I love you. Goodbye :)

Have fun at college Ike! 

You're invited.....

if you are in town :) :)

a very tiny, itsy-bitsy, little update

Hello dear friends and precious family;

So this will have to be a small update...mainly because I am only allowed 15 more minutes of computer time at Canyon Library. :) :)

I hope that you all are well and good.

This are going very well here in Texas, and life is finally after...well, many years I guess....slowing down. This is a new thing for me! The past several years have really felt like a sprint towards the end of an era in life. Ifelt I was trying to finish the last few things the Lord wanted me to do as a single woman like my 6th grade research paper on the Underground Railroad I wrote in a few days and decided to make 25 pages long. Whew!

God really seems to be taking me into a short time in life where He is going to rest me up and change me. Now granted, the work now is just going to be an internal work....but my God has always been faithful in any kind of work He's brought me to.....and He always carries His work out to be complete and whole and finished. So, I'm excited!

I got a new Beta fish. (Sorry William Howard Taft....you have been replaced) He's purple, and I put him in a glass pitcher in my kitchen. I'm learning to be a wife and putting my house together. I am asking God every day to show me how to love my amazing husband better than the day before.....and ODDLY ENOUGH, every single day I wake up....I love him more than the day before. :) :)

Tuesdays are ministry days........ that is when our college ministry "North" is held. Listen to David's sermons and stay updated on what we are doing at www.northwebsite.com or look him up on Itunes!! :)

Ah! AND, we leave on a mission trip to Mexico on August 13th. WHICH, happens to be the same day my baby brother leaves for college at Liberty University! That is neat!

Well, sorry to disapoint, but it is time for me to split. Please check back often.... (SAM :) ) I will try and give a better update soon. I don't have internet right now, but as of yesterday I have a library card!!! :) :)

I love you all very dearly!!!
Email me or leave a comment!
Have a great day!

-Mrs. Ritchie

a little picture update!

just some new pics of wedding, honeymoon, and new house

me and my dearest friend risa, a couple days before the wedding :)

http://tylerkbuschman.squarespace.com/videoblog/

This chronicles the wedding extravaganza!!!!! check it out

Amarillo Sky

Hey People in Blog Land,

I am sitting in a coffee shop in my new home town, Canyon!!! WOOP!!! 

There is something very wonderful taking place at this very moment.... there is a man in this coffee shop with headphones on...and he is INDEED singing OUT LOUD without realizing it. He is definitely terrible and definitely singing in another language. This is a wonderful moment for me, just so you know.

This; however, has been one of many fantastics moments over the past 15 days that I have been a married woman!!! YES, folks, you heard that right. I am now officially, Mrs. Katie Ritchie, wife of David. There are so many things that I could write about...share with you, but I really wouldn't have enough room or explain these things justly. SO, deal with it my loved friends and family. Just know, IT HAS BEEN WONDERFUL! Our wedding was beautiful. I remember the ceremony and the people there. I tried to remember everything. The reception was overwhelming and amazing. I had to sit in the parking lot and get some tears out before I walked in....I was completely overwhelmed by how many people from every part of my life took the time to come celebrate with me and my husband. I wanted to talk to every person and tell them how much they meant to me. Of course I couldn't, and I pray that the Lord would just let them know for me. Our honeymoon was amazing, beautiful, fun, and restful. (of course pictures from all these events will follow when my camera decides to stop being dumb)

Life in Texas as the wife of my best friend has been the best experience so far though....just being with him and making our home has indescribable. :) :) We have a beautiful home, and you are welcome to come visit. (as long as you aren't creepy) 

Much can be summed up in this....

Love someone whose love reflects the love that Jesus has for you. You will never be the same. I know I won't be....and I have a lifetime that I look forward to with my husband....an eternity with my God! 

As the good Book says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear." 

"God is love....and His love is made completely between us" 

In His Presence, there is freedom and fullness of joy. (says that in the Good Book too)

I want to love people in such a way that makes them see how much God loves them!!

I love you all!! I miss you so much!!

Email me or respond or something.

PICTURES COMING SOON!!! :)

In 13 days...

I'm getting married...in 13 days. THAT IS NEAT! :)

I just can't wait! The Lord brought me the most wonderful man in the whole, wide world!

check out

http://www.josephelliott.net/

(joseph took all our great engagement pics)